


Infuriate Me, Unresolved Agony

by RandomGuygoesviral



Series: Indruck ft. a love of Coolice [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst without resolve, Emotional Hurt, I love this good good boy, More Fucking Jake Coolice, Other, TAZ Amnesty, Unresolved Emotional Tension, the adventure zone - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 01:32:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomGuygoesviral/pseuds/RandomGuygoesviral
Summary: Jake Coolice, everyones favorite laid back snowboarder.He was a good guy, the bro you go to when you want a chill chat.People... never suspect the cool ones to have emotional baggage.





	Infuriate Me, Unresolved Agony

**Author's Note:**

> "Wow, Sai's writing some more stuff related to Jake Coolice."
> 
> I know, I know. I really enjoy him as a character- okay? Sue me.
> 
> This started out as a song fic, but the song I chose really didn't have enough substance to use well. (Pretender by AJR, a good song- just not great for a fic)
> 
> Also, I totally wrote the last two pages of this thing with a horrid migraine, as I have a head cold atm. So if my writing near the end it... shit, you'll have to forgive me.

For someone from a completely different world, Jake prided himself in how good he was at, uh, blending in with the general public. Or blending in just enough that he  _ could _ stand out. He was pretty flamboyant- actually. There was just a point where someone was so different that it made  **sense** . It made sense for there to be a dorky skater dude with an 80’s vibe in Kepler, West Virginia. 

It also gave him a pretty secure guard when it came to serious stuff. He knew when to drop the act, sure, of course, it was more that no one  _ knew _ that it was an act. Jake knew how to be serious, but a loose and chill snowboarder was more his style honestly. So he was content being that way, because it wasn’t like it  _ wasn’t _ his personality. He wasn’t making a whole way of life up, he was just amplifying his good attributes. That was a… normal thing. 

~~ That didn’t mean he didn’t have to figure out the slang ‘n shit. ~~

So he usually just kinda went off on his own, doing his own thing. As close as he was to other people in the Lodge (Namely Aubrey and Dani, Moira tended to avoid him) some things were better left unsaid. Especially when it came to stupid dumb quarrels with ex teammates. Wasn’t like he really cared that much, anyways. 

It didn’t matter. They were bad influences regardless. Tried to make him smoke pot and shit like that. Jake was too big a goodie-two-shoes to do that. He might be totally  rad , but he wasn’t about to break the law just to hang with some dicks. 

And there he was, just hanging out in the forest just beyond Amnesty Lodge, the Monongahela. It was really a pretty place, honestly. Not the… safest all things considering, but it was just outside his home. So them trees were kinda his home too, if that makes even an ounce of sense. 

Anyways, his muscles ached to be put to  _ use _ . That latest abomination got everyone so riled up that he hardly got to do anything. Other than just run errands for stupid shit. He was just itching to take that damn wristband off and  **_stretch_ ** ! Obviously he couldn’t. Not out of the Lodge. Still, would it really hurt to just climb a tree or some shit? 

He decided that, no, probably not. As long as he didn’t get stuck he’d be fine. Mama and Barclay weren’t letting anyone get too close to large patches of snow thanks to the damn monster, so tree climbing was on the table; snowboarding… wasn’t. Ugh. Running a pale hand through his hair, the male let out a long breath. Hopefully scouting out a tree wouldn’t be too hard, it was a literal  _ forest _ of trees. 

So up on the treetops he went, completely thrilled just to have cold air hitting his face. Strain in his muscles, giving him some reminder that he was actually there. It was an idiotic thought, sure, but Jake was desperate to feel  _ something _ other than boredom. Because the same thing a million times over was so intensely grueling. He knew it was important to stay safe from the abominations, it had been drilled into his head since the day he got to the Lodge, but you couldn’t just confine a thrill-seeker to one place.

Jake almost slipped and fell off the tree like… three times. That just added to the thrill though, right? It was adrenaline, it was a lot more real than jealousy for sure. Yeah, yeah jealousy. He wasn’t jealous about anything. He wasn’t bitter about the fact that no one trusted him enough to let him actually do things. Jake was smart! He was useful! God, they let Dani do more than him! That’s just because Aubrey has a stupid crush on her or whatever. ‘S not like he  cared though. No way. 

Bitter feelings weren’t his style, this was all stupid and dumb. It was all just really shitty, ya’know? Wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t a big fan of gushing his feelings. Not usually.

**He** **_didn’t_ ** **have feelings for Aubrey.**

**He** **_wasn’t_ ** **mad that he didn’t get to be a real Pine Guard.**

**And he** **_most certainly_ ** **wasn’t still hung up on the Hornets!**

No, not at all.

Jake broke a small twig off of the tree he had taken to sitting on, chucking it at the ground with a grunt. Bad mood, he was in a really bad mood. It really sucked when he was in a bad mood, because he didn’t have an excuse. Jake Coolice didn’t get to be in a bad mood. Cool skater dudes weren’t aloud to be upset. 

Everything  **sucked** .

Honestly; he wasn’t quite sure how long he stayed up in that tree, breaking twigs off of larger branches and numbly chucking them downward. Must have been a while though. When he was more... normal again, the sun had started dipping under the horizon. He couldn’t see it super well- but sunsets were always pretty in Kepler, West Virginia. 

After finally regaining the entirety of his chill, the blond started on his way down the tree. Which was, not as easy as climbing it. Looking over his shoulder was a bit more difficult than just looking up. So, when he was about two yards from the ground he got a… bit overconfident. Resulting in him completely missing a foot-hold and, well, falling. Jake fell. 

Six feet was taller than the average human, and he was probably closer to seven feet up in that damn tree. If he had the time or space to roll he probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt. But he fell off a tree. Which  _ meant: _ he fell that distance at a close proximity to a rough object with jagged edges without much ability to stop himself. Other than grabbing at things, sure, which he  **did** and… that only made things worse. He obviously couldn’t get ahold of anything while flailing, as well as being too low for any large branches to be present. Not to mention the fact that it took less than a second to actually fall.

Jake landed hard and unsteady on an ankle, causing him to crumple at the tree’s bass with a very badly masked cry of pain. That hurt like a **_bitch_ ** . Thank god, he managed to keep his chest or legs from any real damage, other than the fucked ankle. Unfortunately, most if the visible injury was taken by his forearms downward and also… his face. 

That’s right! A particularly rough patch of bark caught his right cheek and gashed the ever loving  _ hell _ out of it! That  _ also _ hurt like a bitch. His palms were drenched in blood, from a bunch of various cuts in his scramble. 

At that point, Jake was just sort of… sitting there. Blood staining both his blue jacket and the late February snow around him crimson. The sickly sweet, copper smell of blood clogged his senses. He- he wasn’t quite sure if fight or flight, adrenaline, or pain was the biggest thing his mind was processing. When he attempted to stand he quickly found out that pain was a  _ clear _ victor. 

Sensory overload was an idea Aubrey had explained a few times. It was a thing that happened with a lotta people with various mental disorders. ADHD, OCD, and Autism seemed to be the leading three, though. From what he understood, basically it was when your brain was to crammed with different information coming in all at once… and it just kinda like- consumed you? Like any sense could trigger it, and you couldn’t process everything. So it overwhelmed. 

Jake didn’t quite… understand what Aubrey had meant until that moment. Not really, at least? Because his brain kinda like shut down after he was hit with a nauseating wave of pain. That combined with the strong smell of blood, the adrenaline, and his panic was evidently too much for him. Biting down roughly on his lip, he wiped some blood from his cheek, a rough sting following the contact. 

That was enough for him to sink to the ground, and his breathing slowly grew more and more labored. With every passing second the sense that the world was collapsing in on itself grew stronger. Jake’s mind could only process the prevalent idea what he was  _ dying _ . Rationally, he knew he wasn’t. As the world around him seemed to dim, however, casualty seemed just as convincing as longevity. 

The next thing he knew was the warmth of a battered duvet. There was a pounding in his head and Jake had the creeping suspicion that he wasn’t quite… conscious. His eyes weren’t open, and he could hear voices but they were  _ so _ far away. Vaguely, he could feel a pressure against his hand. Or at least he figured it was his hand. Everything was a bit… hazy. Numb. 

A dull groan tumbled out of his throat, providing him  _ something _ to cling onto, at least. One pained sound managed to pop the male back into reality. With that, his eyes very slowly fluttered open, only to very quickly squeeze back shut. Jake let out a grunt, suddenly very aware of the pain in his ankle. Oh, and the sudden realization that the pressure on his hand was someone else’s. 

“Bright…” he grumbled all but inaudibly, voice nothing more than a crackling whisper. 

Brain still a bit wishy-washy on details, he heard someone say  _ something _ before he was suddenly scooped into someone’s grasp. Resulting in another far off voice seeming to chastise the person who did so, as well as a pained whine from him. Details were all fuzzy, but he cracked his eyes open with a squint, view met by bright red hair.

“The fuck?...” his voice -oh thank god, actual words- rang out softly,” Au...brey?”

Suddenly, in what was literally a blink, the world was clear. While he experienced a rush of pain all at once, he also heard the voice of Aubrey Little ‘The Lady Flame’ let out an intense sigh of relief. Followed quickly by someone letting out a long -more irritated- sigh. That someone unmistakably being Dani.

“We thought you were in a fucking coma you dick,” Aubrey, who was squeezing him rather tightly, said.

“Then… why, why the  _ hell _ am I… in the Lodge. And not like,,, a hospital?” yeah, pain made that quip a lot less sharp than Jake envisioned it. 

“Fuck you,” Aubrey rolled her eyes, and the same motion was mirrored by Jake. 

Dani had slipped out to tell everyone that Jake was  **in fact** not dead. People were glad that he was, so that was… something. Soon enough, he was relatively normal. It took like an hour and a half after waking up for him to be back to the quick-witted snowboarder that everyone knew and loved. Other than the fact that he had to walk with crutches for a… while. He twisted the shit out of his ankle and literally  _ no one _ had decided ‘hey maybe we should take Jake to the hospital’. Not a single person. 

Still… It felt- it felt nice to have people care about him. Of course jake knew that was like… incredibly selfish, but he couldn’t help it. When one of your best friends regularly saves the entire town you live in  _ and _ your home… it was hard to get a moment to be noticed. 

Even still, Jake only ever got recognized for the  **bad** things he did. Almost drowning, nearly passing out because of a payphone, just  _ standing there _ when shit went down. Now… deciding to clear his mind and hurting himself was on that list. 

**It Sucked.**

**Author's Note:**

>  _Not all stories have a happy or sad ending. Sometimes... there's just endings. ___  
> -The dying words I wrote for an NPC while I was a GM once.
> 
> _  
> _Please, please, please comment and give me feedback, I really want to know how people feel about my work!_  
>  _


End file.
